Having problems activating Windows 10? You're not alone

Microsoft has been busy over the last seven days, pumping out no fewer than three new builds of Windows 10 to Insiders. Hot on the heels of build 10158 came build 10159, followed swiftly by build 10162.

As these are previews, problems are to be expected, and some users are having trouble activating their copies of the operating system. Despite the fact Microsoft is giving away Windows 10 free of charge, activation is still required and it seems the company has a few kinks to iron out before launch day on July 29. So what's the deal?

Microsoft is aware of the issue which has arisen because of on-going development of Windows 10, including work that is being done on the activation process itself. Users have complained that they are not only unable to activate Windows 10, but also that it is not possible to change their product key.

Writing on Microsoft Answers in response to queries about the problem, the company said:

We are doing some testing and work on the Activation process. That message is expected and we hope it will go away in the next day. When we have the service back up and running, it should attempt to activate automatically. Until then you can ignore it because I believe other than the UI showing it's not activated, it's not affecting any other use of the system.

Patience, it seems, is all that's required.

Have you experienced activation issues?